Council advances special-use permit for 160-foot communications tower near Police and Municipal Court

Lee's Summit City Council advanced to second reading an ordinance to grant a special-use permit for a 160-foot telecommunications tower to be installed on city property at 2 Northeast Tudor Road, adjacent to the Police and Municipal Court building. The motion to advance bill number 25-160 passed unanimously after a public hearing and staff presentation.

The application, presented by applicant Alan Talkington of Atusa Consulting and explained in detail by Senior Planner Hector Soto Jr., would replace an existing 80-foot tower on the south side of the Police and Municipal Court facility with a new 160-foot structure. "So the application before you ... is for a communication tower," Senior Planner Hector Soto Jr. said during his presentation. Staff said the city's 911-related equipment currently installed on a nearby Evergy tower would be relocated to the proposed new structure.

The proposal requires three specific modifications from the Unified Development Ordinance (UDL) and related city code: (1) a setback modification because the tower would be set back about 68 feet from the south property line while the UDL generally requires a setback equal to the tower height; (2) a waiver to the minimum one-mile separation requirement for towers over 90 feet because the closest qualifying tower is roughly 330 feet short of the one-mile separation; and (3) an exception to the UDL requirement that towers be painted a neutral color. Planner Soto identified site constraints — overhead power lines, existing buildings including the Police and Municipal Court building and a new Joff building under construction, covered carport parking, and an area reserved for future building expansion — that limited alternate siting options and led staff to recommend the south-side location.

Planner Soto also described a Planning Commission comment asking staff to take a future amendment to the UDL to reconsider or remove the painted-tower requirement to avoid long-term maintenance issues. That Planning Commission observation was the sole concern noted by commissioners; otherwise the Planning Commission raised no objection to the three requested modifications, staff said.

Councilmember Rader moved to advance bill number 25-160 to second reading; Councilmember Hodges seconded. The council voted unanimously to move the ordinance to second reading.

Next steps identified at the meeting: the item will return for a formal second reading before the City Council, and any UDL text amendments related to tower painting or other standards would follow the city's amendment process (planning commission review and subsequent council consideration).